Over on the podcast today, Laura and I are discussing our favourite mantras, perspectives and life philosophies. We shared them with each other for the first time while recording, but it was awesome to see that we had so many similar ideas that went hand-in-hand. I definitely came away with some awesome new perspectives and a bit more peace.
There’s a little bit of overlap with my post about my favourite quotes, but surprisingly most of the ones I shared with Laura on the podcast are never-bef0re-shared on the blog (but shared about a million times with myself in my own brain). Here are a few of them:
Sit with it: I read a Tony Robbins quote a while ago that said “The quality of your life is in direct proportion with the amount of uncertainty you can comfortably live with.” It reminds me of doing cross country running in high school when my coach told me that it’s normal to be a little uncomfortable, that you shouldn’t be running in a way that gets rid of every ounce of discomfort. I think in every situation, we rail against uncertainty and annoyance and pain, but this mantra reminds me that we don’t have to believe everything we think and feel. We don’t have to try to change and control every little thing that happens to us. We can try and sit with it, accept that it’s not ideal, and breathe through it.
Big deal or little deal?: This has always been a favourite of my mother’s and it always instantly puts things in perspective for me. It reminds me that a good 95% of the things I get stressed out about aren’t very big deals – they might be stressful, but not much is at stake. I often think to myself, in a year’s time, will I remember being stressed about this? Usually the answer is that I probably won’t even remember it in a month’s time, and sometimes even less time than that.
Abundance: My wonderful word of the year has served me well so far. It’s amazing how many times it’s come up for me, and how many times it’s been helpful when things have been stressful or confusing. Sometimes I’m just repeating the word itself over and over in my head to remind me to think big and not scarce and small. Again, instant perspective shift.
Nobody cares about almost: I recently read this idea on Elise’s blog and it just kind of stuck with me. It reminds me that in the end, you can’t tell stories about the things you considered doing but decided not to. People want to know what decisions you made, what things you actually did. You can make your decisions based on who you are as a person and what you need – and then own those decisions – but you have to decide. You can’t just let life happen to you. Elise also shared this awesome quote from Amy Poehler: “Great people do things before they’re ready. They do things before they know they can do it. Doing what you’re afraid of, getting out of your comfort zone, taking risks like that – that is what life is. You might be really good. You might find out something about yourself that’s really special and if you’re not good, who cares? You tried something. Now you know something about yourself.” – Amy Poehler
Those are most of mine, but there are some real gems in what Laura shares as well. We also talk a lot more about what these mantras mean to us and how they’ve shaped our decisions and lives so far.
You can listen to the episode right here or by subscribing on iTunes. Happy Tuesday!
